Method for in-line testing of flip-chip semiconductor assemblies

ABSTRACT

Flip-chip semiconductor assemblies, each including integrated circuit (IC) dice and an associated substrate, are electrically tested before encapsulation using an in-line or in situ test socket or probes at a die-attach station. Those assemblies using “wet” quick-cure epoxies for die attachment may be tested prior to the epoxy being cured by pressing the integrated circuit (IC) dice against interconnection points on the substrate for electrical connection, while those assemblies using “dry” epoxies may be cured prior to testing. In either case, any failures in the dice or in the interconnections between the dice and the substrates can be easily fixed, and the need for the use of known-good-die (KGD) rework procedures during repair is eliminated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/721,110,filed Nov. 24, 2003, pending, which is a divisional of application Ser.No. 10/338,530, filed Jan. 8, 2003, pending, which is a divisional ofapplication Ser. No. 09/819,472, filed Mar. 28, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No.6,545,498, issued Apr. 8, 2003, which is a divisional of applicationSer. No. 09/166,369, filed Oct. 5, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,832,issued Dec. 11, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to semiconductor manufacturing and,more specifically, to in-line testing of flip-chip semiconductorassemblies.

2. State of the Art

As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional process 10 for manufacturingflip-chip semiconductor assemblies, singulated dice are flip-chipattached with a conductive epoxy or solder to a printed circuit board(PCB) or other substrate to form a flip-chip semiconductor assembly.Once the dice are attached by curing of the epoxy or reflow of thesolder, the dice are then encapsulated, underfilled, or both, using anonconductive epoxy or other encapsulation material. The electricalcharacteristics of the flip-chip semiconductor assembly are then testedand, if the assembly passes the test, it is selected for shipping tocustomers.

If the flip-chip semiconductor assembly does not pass the test, then itproceeds to a repair station, where it is repaired using one or more“known-good dice” (KGD) 12 (i.e., dice that have already passed allstandard electrical tests and have been through burn-in). Specifically,those dice in the assembly that are believed to have caused the assemblyto fail the test are electrically disconnected from the rest of theassembly, typically using laser fuses. One or more KGD are then attachedto the PCB of the assembly to replace the disconnected dice. Once the,KGD are attached, the assembly is retested and, if it passes, it too isselected for shipping to customers.

The conventional KGD repair process described above generally works wellto repair flip-chip semiconductor assemblies, but the process necessaryto produce KGD can be an expensive one. Also, the described KGD repairprocess does not test for, or repair, problems with the interconnectionsbetween the dice and the PCB in a flip-chip semiconductor assembly.Rather, it only repairs problems with non-functioning dice or defectivesolder bumps. Finally, the KGD in the described repair process end upgoing through bum-in twice: a first time so they can be categorized as aKGD, and a second time when the flip-chip semiconductor assembly towhich they are attached goes through burn-in. This is obviously a wasteof burn-in resources and also stresses the KGD far beyond that necessaryto weed out infant mortalities.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method of testing flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies that reduces or eliminates the need for the KGDrepair process described above.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a method for electrically testing a flip-chip semiconductor assemblyin accordance with this invention, the assembly is tested using, forexample, an in-line or in situ test socket or probes after one or moreintegrated circuit (IC) dice and a substrate, such as a printed circuitboard (PCB), are brought together to form the assembly and before the ICdice are encapsulated or otherwise sealed for permanent operation. As aresult, any problems with the IC dice or their interconnection to thesubstrate can be fixed before sealing of the dice complicates repairs.The method thus avoids the problems associated with conventionalknown-good-die (KGD) repairs. Also, speed grading can be performed whilethe dice are tested.

The assembly may be manufactured using a “wet” conductive epoxy, such asa heat-snap-curable, moisture-curable, or radiation-curable epoxy, inwhich case bond pads on the IC dice can be brought, into contact withconductive bumps on the substrate formed of the epoxy for the testing,which can then be followed by curing of the epoxy to form permanentdie-to-substrate interconnects if the assembly passes the test. If theassembly does not pass the test, the lack of curing allows for easyrepair. After curing but before sealing of the IC dice, the assembly canbe tested again to detect any interconnection problems between the ICdice and the substrate.

The assembly may also be manufactured using a “dry” conductive epoxy,such as a thermoplastic epoxy, for conductive die attachment, in whichcase, the IC dice and the substrate can be brought together and theepoxy cured to form permanent die-to-substrate interconnections, afterwhich the testing may take place. Since the testing occurs beforesealing of the IC dice, repair is still relatively easy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a conventional repair method forflip-chip semiconductor assemblies using known-good dice (KGD);

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method for in-line testing offlip-chip semiconductor assemblies in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a flip-chip semiconductor assembly andin-line test socket or probes implementing the method of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for in situ testing offlip-chip semiconductor assemblies in accordance with this invention;and

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a flip-chip semiconductor assembly and insitu test socket implementing the method of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in a process 20 for manufacturing flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies in accordance with this invention, a printedcircuit board (PCB) 22 is indexed into a die-attach station (not shown),where it is inserted into an in-line test socket 24 or contacted byprobes 25. It will be understood by those having skill in the technicalfield of this invention that the invention is applicable not only toPCBs, but also to a wide variety of other substrates used in themanufacture of flip-chip semiconductor assemblies.

When conductive epoxy dots 26 or “pads” deposited on the PCB 22 at thedie ends of die-to-board-edge conductive traces 30 are made from a “wet”epoxy (i.e., a quick-cure epoxy such as a heat-snap-curable,radiation-curable, or moisture-curable epoxy), then integrated circuit(IC) dice 28 are pressed (active surfaces down) against the dots 26during flip-chip attach so electrical connections are formed between thedice 28 and the in-line test socket 24 or probes 25 through the dots 26and conductive traces 30 on the PCB 22. Of course, it will be understoodthat the invention is also applicable to other flip-chip die-attachmethods including, for example, solder-based methods. It will also beunderstood that the dice 28 may be of any type, including, for example,Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) dice, Static RAM (SRAM) dice,Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) dice, microprocessor dice, Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) dice, and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) dice.

Once such electrical connections are formed, an electrical test isperformed on the flip-chip semiconductor assembly 32 formed by the dice28 and the PCB 22 using the in-line test socket 24 or probes 25. Thistest typically involves checking for open connections that should beclosed, and vice versa, but it can also involve more, fewer, ordifferent electrical tests as need dictates. For example, the testingmay also include speed grading the dice 28 for subsequent speed sorting.Also, the testing typically occurs while the PCB 22 is singulated fromits carrier (not shown).

If the assembly 32 fails the test, it is diverted to a rework station,where any dice 28 identified as being internally defective or as havinga defective interconnection with the PCB 22 can easily be removed andreworked, either by repairing the failing dice 28 themselves or byrepairing conductive bumps (not shown) on the bottom surfaces of thedice 28 used to connect the dice 28 to the conductive epoxy dots 26 onthe PCB 22. Once repaired, the assembly 32 returns for retesting and, ifit passes, it is advanced in the process 20 for quick curing along withall assemblies 32 that passed the test the first time through.

During quick cure, the “wet” epoxy dots 26 of the assembly 32 are cured,typically using heat, radiation, or moisture. The assembly 32 is thenelectrically tested again to ensure that the quick curing has notdisrupted the interconnections between the dice 28 and the conductivetraces 30 through the conductive epoxy dots 26 and the bumps (not shown)on the bottom surfaces of the dice 28. If quick curing has disruptedthese interconnections, then the assembly 32 proceeds to the reworkstation, where the connections between the bumps and the dots 26 can berepaired. The repaired assembly 32 is then retested and, if it passes,it proceeds to encapsulation (or some other form of sealing) and,ultimately, is shipped to customers along with those assemblies 32 thatpassed this testing step the first time through. Of course, it should beunderstood that this invention may be implemented with only one teststage for “wet” epoxy assemblies, although two stages are preferable.

When the conductive epoxy dots 26 are made from a “dry” epoxy (e.g., athermoplastic epoxy), then the PCB 22 is indexed and inserted into thein-line test socket 24 or connected to the probes 25 as described above,but the dice 28 are attached to the PCB 22 using heat before theassembly 32 proceeds to testing. Testing typically takes place while thePCB 22 is singulated from its carrier (not shown).

During testing, if the assembly 32 fails, then it proceeds to a reworkstation, where the bumps on the bottom of the dice 28, the dice 28themselves, or the interconnection between the bumps and the conductiveepoxy dots 26 can be repaired. The repaired assembly 32 then proceeds toencapsulation (or some other form of sealing) and, eventually, isshipped to customers along with those assemblies 32 that passed thetesting the first time through.

Thus, this invention provides a repair method for flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies that is less expensive than the previouslydescribed known-good-die (KGD) based rework process, because it does notrequire the pretesting of dice that the KGD process requires. Also, themethods of this invention are applicable to testing for both internaldie defects and die-to-PCB interconnection defects, and to repairinginterconnections between dice and a PCB in a flip-chip semiconductorassembly, whereas the conventional KGD process is not. In addition,these inventive methods do not waste burn-in resources, in contrast tothe conventional KGD process previously described. Finally, thisinvention allows for early and convenient speed grading of flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in a process 40 for manufacturing flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies in accordance with this invention, a printedcircuit board (PCB) 42 is indexed into a die-attach station (not shown),where it is inserted into an in situ test socket 44. It will beunderstood by those having skill in the technical field of thisinvention that the invention is applicable not only to PCBs but also toa wide variety of other substrates used in the manufacture of flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies.

When conductive epoxy dots 46 or “pads” deposited on the PCB 42 at thedie ends of die-to-board-edge conductive traces 50 are made from a “wet”epoxy (i.e., a quick-cure epoxy such as a heat-snap-curable,radiation-curable, or moisture-curable epoxy), then integrated circuit(IC) dice 48 are pressed (active surfaces down) against the dots 46during flip-chip attach so electrical connections are formed between thedice 48 and the in situ test socket 44 through the dots 46 andconductive traces 50 on the PCB 42. Of course, it will be understoodthat the invention is also applicable to other flip-chip die-attachmethods including, for example, solder-based methods. It will also beunderstood that the dice 48 may be of any type, including, for example,Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) dice, Static RAM (SRAM) dice,Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) dice, microprocessor dice, Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) dice, and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) dice.

Once such electrical connections are formed, an electrical test isperformed on the flip-chip semiconductor assembly 52 formed by the dice48 and the PCB 42 using the in situ test socket 44. This test typicallyinvolves checking for open connections that should be closed, and viceversa, but it can also involve more, fewer, or different electricaltests as need dictates. If the assembly 52 fails the test, it isdiverted to a rework station, where any dice 48 identified as beinginternally defective or as having a defective interconnection with thePCB 42 can easily be removed and reworked, either by repairing thefailing dice 48 themselves or by repairing conductive bumps (not shown)on the bottom surfaces of the dice 48 used to connect the dice 48 to theconductive epoxy dots 46 on the PCB 42. Once repaired, the assembly 52returns for retesting and, if it passes, it is advanced in the process40 for quick curing along with all assemblies 52 that passed the testthe first time through.

During quick cure, the “wet” epoxy dots 46 of the assembly 52 are cured,typically using heat, radiation, or moisture. The assembly 52 is thenelectrically tested again to ensure that the quick curing has notdisrupted the interconnections between the dice 48 and the conductivetraces 50 through the conductive epoxy dots 46 and the bumps (not shown)on the bottom surfaces of the dice 48. If quick curing has disruptedthese interconnections, then the assembly 52 proceeds to another reworkstation, where the connections between the bumps and the dots 46 can berepaired. The repaired assembly 52 is then retested and, if it passes,it proceeds to encapsulation (or some other form of sealing) and,ultimately, is shipped to customers along with those assemblies 52 thatpassed this testing step the first time through. Of course, it should beunderstood that this invention may be implemented with only one teststage for “wet” epoxy assemblies, although the two stages shown in FIG.4 are preferable.

When the conductive epoxy dots 46 are made from a “dry” epoxy (e.g., athermoplastic epoxy), then the PCB 42 is indexed and inserted into thein situ test socket 44 as described above, but the dice 48 are attachedto the PCB 42 using heat before the assembly 52 proceeds to testing.During testing, if the assembly 52 fails, then it proceeds to a reworkstation, where the bumps on the bottom of the dice 48, the dice 48themselves, or the interconnection between the bumps and the conductiveepoxy dots 46 can be repaired. The repaired assembly 52 then proceeds toencapsulation (or some other form of sealing) and, eventually, isshipped to customers along with those assemblies 52 that passed thetesting the first time through.

Thus, this invention provides a repair method for flip-chipsemiconductor assemblies that is less expensive than the previouslydescribed known-good-die (KGD) based rework process, because it does notrequire the pretesting of dice that the KGD process requires. Also, themethods of this invention are applicable to testing for both internaldie defects and die-to-PCB interconnection defects, and to repairinginterconnections between dice and a PCB in a flip-chip semiconductorassembly, whereas the conventional KGD process is not. In addition,these inventive methods do not waste burn-in resources, in contrast tothe conventional KGD process previously described.

Although this invention has been described with reference to particularembodiments, the invention is not limited to these describedembodiments. Rather, the invention is limited only by the appendedclaims, which include within their scope all equivalent methods thatoperate according to the principles of the invention as describedherein.

1. A method for in-line electrical testing of a flip-chip semiconductorassembly during its manufacture, the method comprising: inserting asubstrate into an in-line electrical test socket; positioning one ormore IC dice on a surface of the substrate and pressing interconnectionbumps of the one or more IC dice into conductive contact with conductivequick-cure epoxy pads of the substrate to form the flip-chipsemiconductor assembly while the substrate is inserted into the in-lineelectrical test socket; electrically testing the flip-chip semiconductorassembly using the in-line electrical test socket while the substrate isinserted into the in-line electrical test socket and before sealing ofthe one or more IC dice; repairing the flip-chip semiconductor assemblyif it fails the electrical testing; curing the conductive quick-cureepoxy pads of the substrate; and sealing the one or more IC dice of theflip-chip semiconductor assembly.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising providing one or more IC dice selected from a groupcomprising Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) IC dice, Static RAM(SRAM) IC dice, Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) IC dice, microprocessor ICdice, Application-Specific IC (ASIC)dice, and Digital Signal Processor(DSP) dice.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing oneor more IC dice, each with a surface having interconnection bumps madefrom solder thereon.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingproviding a substrate configured as a printed circuit board (PCB). 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the interconnection bumps comprise amaterial selected from the group consisting of a curable wet conductiveepoxy and a dry conductive epoxy.
 6. The method of claim 1, attachingthe one or more IC dice to the substrate, including: aligning theinterconnection bumps on the one or more IC dice with the conductivequick-cure epoxy pads on the substrate; contacting the interconnectionbumps on the one or more IC dice with the conductive quick-cure epoxypads on the substrate; and heating the flip-chip semiconductor assemblyto form electrical connections between bond pads on the one or more ICdice and the conductive quick-cure epoxy pads on the surface of thesubstrate.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising speed gradingthe one or more IC dice.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein speed gradingis performed after testing the flip-chip semiconductor assembly.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein repairing the flip-chip semiconductorassembly includes at least one of: removing and replacing at least oneof the one or more IC dice; repairing one or more of the interconnectionbumps on the one or more IC dice; and repairing at least one of theconductive quick-cure epoxy pads on the surface of the substrate.